Shame and disgrace in Australian football culture: Rape claims and public affect

SynopsisThis paper seeks to articulate the way in which emotion circulates through fan discourse on the sexual transgression of rape alleged to have been perpetrated by footballers. It argues that the people involved in these incidents take up gendered subject positions which are emotionalized in very specific ways, and that shame is the primary emotion that regulates gender in fan responses to allegations of rape in football. The paper seeks to make a distinction between feminine shame and masculine disgrace in order to explain gendered object attachments. While other academic accounts of footballers accused of rape (in Australia) have focused largely on media discourses, this paper contributes to the existing work by examining the fan response to news stories about allegations of rape in football.

► I examine popular public discourse responding to rape claims against footballers.
► I examine how emotion defines rape culture in Australian football.
► I examine how ‘family’ reproduces social emotion in this context.
► I argue that shame is feminized and disgrace is masculinized.
► I suggest that in this context public shaming fails as a deterrent for rape.